Acacius held the sides of her neck, pulling her deeper.
She drowned in delirium, in every sensation spreading through her system, every breath she shared with him, his arms snug around her. For the first time since Evander had invaded her bedchamber, she felt safe.
She bit down on his bottom lip, just to soothe it with her tongue. Tension coiled behind her navel, greedy and sharp. She could feel his length pressing against the inside of her thigh, dribbling streaks of anticipation down her skin.
This connection wasn’t enough.
She removed a hand from his face, lifted slightly on her knees, and guided his tip in between her legs.
Slowly, she lowered, taking in all of him.
Acacius sucked in a breath through his teeth and broke away from her mouth to find her gaze; his eyes, like two burning suns, shimmered through the dusky room. Their embrace trickled into her heart like sap, swirling with centuries of longing and pain that she wanted to vindicate.
In this sacred space between them, she would help him hold his anguish, just as he had when he’d whisked her away after her duel with Torin.
“Would you impale me again if I told you how lovely you are?” Acacius tucked her white streak of hair behind her ear andbrushed his long fingers down the crook of her neck, following the shape of her collarbone and the arc of her breast. “Absolutely stunning.”
Marina gave him a light-hearted smile and twisted her hips, shifting him deeper inside of her. Small surges of pleasure sparked low in her belly.
She ground in wide, agonizing circles, her nerves weeping in ecstasy.
Acacius found purchase on her waist, lifting his hips to thrust even further than she could reach.
A breathy moan slipped from her lips.
“Rina, you’re slowly killing me every time you make me wait this long to have you.” His husky voice held a playful note as he sat up, angling himself to graze that sweet spot hidden in her flesh.
“Gods.” Marina folded her arms around his neck, pushing her breasts into the bare skin of his chest.
“I’m the only god you’re going to be praising tonight.” He plunged harder, augmenting the divine lust between them.
Onyx rose like mist from her skin. The energy in the air charged with an intensity as her divine power sank through his pores. His crawled up from his bones to welcome her into his skin.
Acacius tensed underneath her, his fingertips biting harder into her hipbones and driving further. “Say my name. You know what it does to me.”
Shivers quivered up her spine.
She whimpered, the pressure growing between her hips. “I’ve never felt more powerful than I do at this moment, Acacius.”
With a single murmur, she could bring him infinite pleasure. She held his fate, his restraint, in the center of her palm, and she wanted nothing more than to cherish it.
“Then make me bleed.”
His request snapped her out of her stupor.
She looked down at him, her long hair falling over her chest. “What?”
Acacius paused his thrusts, meeting her eyes with a fierce comfort. “Do not let Evander take from you any longer. He does not deserve to haunt you this way. Allow me to take the place of that memory he left behind. Associatemyblood on your skin with power, not weakness.”
She allowed herself to fantasize it—a day where blood splattered across her skin failed to stir awake her past wounds. Ever since Evander, she’d learned that there were tragedies in life that endlessly stole parts of her, parts where she would always feel the broken cracks. Long ago, she’d grieved that fearless, trusting version of herself, with no expectations of those fissures ever healing.
A part of her reached out to accept his request, while the other darkened with dread at the thought.
“What if it doesn’t work?”
His expression softened, and he lightly cupped her cheek, stroking his thumb over her skin. “We stop and wash it away. Regardless, I will be here to comfort you. You will never walk in it alone again.”
“Do not make promises that you cannot keep.” It left her in a vulnerable whisper.
